Guernsey v Jersey
played at Port Soif, Guernsey
on Saturday 22nd August 2015 at 11.30am
for the Odey Wealth Challenge Trophy
50 overs per side
Umpires Martin Gray (Guernsey) and Neil Hall (Jersey), Martin Tolcher (3rd umpire)
Scorers: Ian Damarell (Guernsey) and Drew Livingston (Jersey)
Toss won by Guernsey who elected to field
Guernsey won by 5 wickets

JERSEY’S cricketers are in a confident mood this week as they prepare for what could be a fourth consecutive victory in the inter-insular showdown. Buoyed by their 73-run victory over a Middlesex XI on Sunday, Neil MacRae’s men are in fine form as they look to transfer up to 50 overs after a memorable display at last month’s Twenty20 World Cup Qualifier in Ireland. That shift up to the longer format does indeed take time, but the head coach is more than happy with his side’s progress as they approach an away-day encounter in Guernsey. ‘The Middlesex game was something we needed before Guernsey,’ said MacRae. ‘It was the first 50 over game we’ve played … we’ve had a lot of success in Twenty20 this summer, but it’s good to get back to 50 before the inter-insular. ‘There’s certainly signs that we’re making that transition with the bat and that’s something we’ll continue to work on. Most of the batsmen look in good touch, so we can expect some good scores this weekend.’ Peter Gough and Co – or more specifically Anthony Kay – produced another bowling/fielding masterclass on Sunday at Merchant Taylor’s School; restricting Middlesex to 105 as they attempted to surpass the Islanders’ final tally of 178. Kay grabbed six wickets for just 24 runs from his eight overs after Corey Bisson had top-scored with the bat (42). ‘We did exceptionally well with the new ball,’ MacRae added. ‘Anthony had one of the best spells he’ll ever bowl for Jersey. He and Ben Kynman were in good rhythm and the three spinners, Ben Stevens, Rhys Palmer and Elliot Miles, backed them up well. It’s a very effective bowling unit and we’ve been sharp in the field. It’s all going in the right direction.’

GUERNSEY will keep Jersey and the public guessing on their final XI for the Odey Wealth Inter-Insular – now eight days away – until the morning of the game. Skipper Jamie Nussbaumer yesterday confirmed that the team will be chosen from the 14 heading off to next month’s World League Division Six tournament, but admitted that they already hand a clearer vision of how they will line up at Port Soif next week. ‘I think we are pretty much down to 12,’ said the captain, adding: ‘we have three people vying for two batting spots’. Whoever gets the nod, Nussbaumer is confident that a new era of success is close.‘When we all met up at the hotel last Sunday afternoon, having come in from all over, I looked around and you could see an air of confidence. There is now a lot more belief in each other.’

‘Young trio set for debut’ by Rob Batiste

THERE are likely to be three new caps in Guernsey’s youngest ever side to play in a senior cricket inter-insular today at Port Soif. Batsmen Tom Nightingale and James Wilkes-Green, plus fast bowler Will Fazakerley, are fancied to start against a powerful Jersey side that will be aiming to win the annual clash for a fourth straight summer.

Tom Nightingale Guernsey Evening Press

Both Nightingale and Fazakerley are just 17 and the average age of the team will be 21,11 years shorter in terms of experience than the Reds’ new man, the former Leicestershire and Oxford University centurion, Nick Ferraby. Although head coach Nic Pothas won’t be confirming his starting XI until this morning it would be a surprise if either Olly Nightingale or Jordon Martel make the cut. ‘ The final decision is likely to surround a middle-order batting slot but whichever XI walk out for the second successive inter-island game to be played on a new host venue – last year it was Farmers – Pothas said that the key will be to beat Jersey in the mental department.

‘Pothas – doing the basics key’ by Rob Batiste

NIC POTHAS is as straight as they come and he is not one for doubting. ‘Man for man, we are better than they are,’ he said on the eve of the biggest match of the domestic cricket season. ‘Honest to goodness and I believe it to be true that where we have failed [previously] is in our mental approach. ‘But we have worked really hard at it and the final part of the puzzle for us is the mental piece.’ It was clear as the blue St John sky at Farmers in 2014, that Guernsey were deficient in that area, but a year on Pothas is convinced that it will be different. ‘Everyone is in a really good place. ‘These guys have played a lot of cricket, and a lot of them have been playing good league cricket in the UK.’ Jersey will be without a couple of their ‘big’ players, Corre Bodenstein and Nat Watkins, due to injury, so have drafted in Nick Ferraby, who has scored a lot of runs for Farmers. There is also a likely place for Elliot Miles who performed so well in the recent under 19’s tournament. Jersey cricket columnist Mark Saralis, still a top player himself, expects a close game on an unfamiliar venue for the Caesareans. ‘Home advantage does of course tilt things in Guernsey’s favour, and in the absence of the Channel Island League for the past couple of years, will definitely be more familiar to the locals,’ he wrote in the Jersey Evening Post yesterday. ‘The gut feeling is this year things could be pretty close and Jersey will certainly miss their two absentees,’ he added. Pothas, meanwhile, will be urging his team to ‘do the basics well’.

That will win the game, he says. ‘Unlike T20 it is not ordinarily the type of game where one player will take the game away from you. ‘On the day there will be opportunities to stick your foot on the throat and they must be taken.’

‘We can beat Jersey this time’ by Gareth Le Prevost

GUERNSEY captain Jamie Nussbaumer is confident that he can become the first man to lift the Inter-Insular Trophy at Port Soif. With the redevelopment of the KGV facilities in full flow, Rovers’ application to host the annual clash with Jersey this year was welcomed by the GCB and the island skipper says his side can reward the hosts with a home win. ‘Over the last four years, I do not think we have been in a better position to beat them. No matter how we do it, we have just got to find a way of getting over that line,’ said Nussbaumer, who added that his ever-improving young side have the armoury at their disposal to end Jersey’s run of three successive victories. ‘If you put together a composite XI of the islands together, it would be a pretty even split between the two, but they have battle-hardened cricketers and they put in some very good performances in the World T20 Qualifiers, so we will have to play very well to beat them. ‘But I am certain that if we play to our potential, we can come out on top.’

Guernsey will not name their final XI until the morning of the match, with the 14 in contention being those named in the squad for next month’s World Cricket League Division Six tournament in Essex. ‘In the first place, it was hard getting from 18 down to 14 and we left out some good players in Zak Damarell, Tom Kimber, Ben Fitchet and Josh Butler, which shows the depth we now have,’ Nussbaumer said. ‘Getting down to an XI from the 14 is an even trickier task, but I think we were aware going to Newcastle that we had a 12 in our heads with three guys playing for two places in the batting order as our bowling attack is pretty much settled. ‘I can guarantee that the three who do not play on Saturday will be pretty devastated because everyone wants to be involved, but only XI can walk out onto the field.

‘However, those three who do miss out this time are part of the WCL squad and will be very much in contention for those games.’ While Guernsey have been focused on 50-over cricket since their European Division One T20 adventure in May, Jersey’s success in that tournament saw them progress to the ICC World T20 Qualifier and meant that they concentrated on the shorter format. Nussbaumer, though, does not believe that will affect the visitors unduly. ‘They were playing quality cricket, so I am sure they will have benefited from that and from being together for three weeks as a squad. ‘They will turn up thoroughly prepared,’ However, home advantage could prove decisive. ‘Hopefully, it will be a good day weather-wise, but on the flip side, if it’s a bit nasty, the Guernsey guys are used to playing in those conditions at Port Soif,’ Nussbaumer said. ‘We certainly hope to get a good crowd down there to cheer us on.’ Tomorrow’s game starts at 11.30am

GUERNSEY beat Jersey at their own game on Saturday – and that is meant as a big compliment. The Sarnians were cool, calm and calculating in executing their plans efficiently and effectively with generally disciplined bowling, outstanding fielding and mature batting – not bad for a side whose average age is not even 22. They also showed what captain Jamie Nussbaumer has been saying all season, which is that as an XI he believes they are stronger than the Caesareans who had won the previous three inter-insulars. While there may have been a few late palpitations among the home crowd when, from a position of strength at 140 for one chasing 157, Guernsey lost four wickets for the addition of just two runs, there was still plenty in the hutch to get them to the finishing post. The fact that Tim Ravenscroft and David Hopper got them there in grandstand style, knocking off the necessary 16 runs in just five balls with trademark positive shots, including a reverse sweep for four from Hooper before Ravenscroft finished things off with a six over long-on, merely backed up the skipper’s view. ‘There probably would have been jitters two years ago, but now the players believe in themselves,’ Nussbaumer said. ‘At the end of the day, you have Hoops and Ravo in there – that’s the quality we still had to see us home.’ Their job had been made easier, though, by the class of Matt Stokes at the top of the order. Low totals are not always the easiest to chase, but Stokes – supported well initially by opening partner James Wilkes-Green and then Ollie Newey coming in at No. 3 – was never flustered as he compiled 86 fine runs that made him a no-brainer for the man-of- the-match award. On a day when he opened both the batting and bowling, Stokes had also done his bit with the ball with eight miserly overs.

Matt Stokes pulls to leg during his innings Guernseysportsphotography

He and Ollie Newey did a good job with the new ball after Nussbaumer had decided to bowl having won the toss, with Newey making the crucial first break- through to dismiss dangerman Jonty Jenner. – The Sussex Academy batsman looked to dominate from the outset, but he took positive intent to extremes and after giving a couple of chances he holed out to Nussbaumer at mid-off. Ben Stevens did not hang around long either, as debutant Will Fazakerley produced a beauty from around the wicket to get through the left-hander’s defences and clip the top of the stumps.

Will Fazakerley bowling on debut Guernseysportsphotography

However, Jersey captain Peter Gough and newcomer Nick Ferraby got their heads down and put on 64 for the third-wicket with sensible, low-risk batting to get their side into triple figures and have them looking at a score of around 220 as they went into the 25th over. It was then Nussbaumer turned to the medium pace of Hooper and he produced a spell that went a long way to deciding the outcome of the game.

David Hooper with an excellent spell of bowling Guernseysportsphotography

His third ball was full and straight, not the type Ferraby should have been looking to hit to square leg, but try he did and he was trapped plumb in front. Wickets then began falling regularly. Ed Farley got a Max Ellis full toss right off the toe of his bat and Stokes took a good catch at mid-wicket before Corey Bisson was given little chance by his skipper, who called him through for a single having pushed the ball almost directly to Nussbaumer in the covers. Gough did bring up his half-century, made from 88 balls, shortly afterwards, but then fell to an out-of-character ugly slog-sweep shot that he top edged to Ben Ferbrache at point off Stokes. Hooper then pegged back Chuggy Perchard’s off stump and Anthony Kay gloved an attempted hook off Fazakerley to Jason Martin. Ben Kynman and Rhys Palmer managed to hang around and add 18 for the ninth wicket before good work in the covers from Hooper ran out Kynman and the innings came to an end in the 46th over, when Elliot Miles over balanced attempting a reverse sweep off Ravenscroft and Martin smartly whipped off the bails.

Jason Martin wonders how that one missed Guernseysportsphtography

Knowing that they were short of a par total and needed to make early inroads, Jersey emerged for the second innings with plenty of enthusiasm and energy. They thought, too, that they had the breakthrough in the first over when they went up for a catch behind the wicket off Wilkes-Green, but the decision did not go their way and rather than being 2 for 1, Guernsey were 66 before the first wicket fell.

James Wilkes-Green cheeky scoop shot Guernseysportsphotography

That wicket in the 27th over was of Guernsey’s own making as Wilkes-Green tried to take on Gough for two and lost, but Newey joined Stokes and maintained the steady progress. At 140 with more than five overs remaining, there was little panic when Newey, who faced 44 balls for his 28 and hit both a four and a lovely straight six, was well caught by Jenner in the covers off Stevens.

Ollie Newey hits over mid-on Guernseysportsphotography

Even when a leading edge to mid-off saw Stokes’ excellent knock end in the next over, there were few alarm bells. But when both young Tom Nightingale and Ferbrache fell with the score on 142 – the first to Perchard’s direct hit and the second trapped leg before to the same man – Jersey sensed the chance of the most improbable of victories.

Ben Ferbrache LBW (even from here!!) Guernseysportsphotography

However, Ravenscroft and Hooper took charge of the situation. A Ravenscroft back-foot punch for three off the first ball of Stevens’ 10th over was followed by a two through mid-wicket then that reverse sweep for four by Hooper. He then dropped the ball into the leg-side for a quick single to give Ravenscroft the chance for glory. He needed no second invitation.

Tim Ravenscroft with that 6! Guernseysportsphotography

‘Unbelievable feeling’ by Gareth Le Prevost

SIX of the best from Tim Ravenscroft ended three years of disappointment in style as Guernsey regained the Inter-Insular Trophy on Saturday. A performance of efficiency and maturity from the young Sarnian squad saw them bowl out Jersey for just 157 at Port Soif before, anchored by a superb knock of 86 from man-of-the-match Matt Stokes, the hosts knocked off the required runs with 13 balls to spare. Although the loss of four wickets for just two runs with Guernsey within sight of the winning line briefly gave Jersey hope, David Hooper and Ravenscroft quickly quashed those by knocking off the last 16 runs in just five balls, with Ravenscroft’s six over long-on sealing victory. ‘It’s without doubt my proudest moment,’ said Guernsey captain Jamie Nussbaumer after the five-wicket win. ‘I grew up seeing the likes of Andy Biggins and Stu [Le Prevost] lifting this trophy and all I ever wanted to do was be Guernsey captain one day and get to lift the trophy too.

‘It’s an unbelievable feeling and hopefully one I will experience a few more times.’ Nussbaumer added that this success had been two years in the making, pointing to the relegation from World Cricket League Five in Malaysia the winter before last as a real turning point. ‘It has been a long path, we have taken knocks and bumps, but this season we have been building towards this,’ he said. ‘Everyone in this team believed we could go out there and win it. Thankfully we put in a performance that matched that belief and we have come out winners.’ Jersey captain Peter Gough felt that his side were around 40 runs short of a winning total, but was pleased with the fight his side showed in the field. ‘It was a good game today,’ he said. ‘Guernsey did really well in the field, I thought Jamie was very good tactically, but we are going to fight hard next year to get the trophy back.’

Stats:

Elliot Miles became the 200th Jersey player. Peter Gough became the 9th highest player to appear for Jersey with 13. He is now 2nd in catches with 10 and 4th in their batting with 358. Ben Stevens is now 3rd in their bowling with 21 wickets.

THE hospitality tent went wild as Tim Ravenscroft launched the six to finally take Guernsey over the line. But, make no mistake, this win was not based upon extravagant and exciting strokeplay, it was down to – as the coach had ordered – basics. Guernsey won because they did most of the basics right. Seventeen wides would not have been part of the plan, nor the little middle- order hiccup as things got tight as the run-rate suddenly climbed in the closing overs, but most generally Nic Pothas’s young side – average just 21 – performed those basics. Unlike last year at Farmers, there was no mental collapse either. A season in the Southern Electric Premier and Sussex Premier Leagues has toughened those of Guernsey’s best players who have committed to it, none more so than Matthew Stokes. To look at him, he would not hurt a fly. How could he possibly open the bowling and the batting in senior cricket? ‘Stokesy’ has got skills, though, and the most important ingredient of which is locked away between the ears. As he and fellow opener James Wilkes-Green batted well past 20 overs and inched the score into the sixties without loss, this new opening pairing produced patience and concentration not seen from island players for many a long year. Fred Boycott, the mythical man who is forever lauding everything YAWKSHUR and to ‘dig in’ on Twitter, would have loved it. It was a shame that the partnership ended in the fashion it did, with a silly run out, because it went against everything they had done previously. Wilkes-Green, an Old Elizabethan now at Durham University, has barely been seen in local senior cricket. ‘Didn’t he used to bowl leggies,’ somebody asked in the tent. The answer is yes, but like many young leggies do, he has given that up as an average job and is concentrating on batting. Nowadays he opens for Preston Nomads and I loved the way he wound up Jersey’s young speed merchant Ben Kynman by advanctng down the track as if to suggest ‘you’re nothing special mate’. It again highlighted the Greens are no longer that between the ears. As a team they have grown up. This performance had been three years in the making and the wait has been worth it. Guernsey representative cricket has a lot to look forward to.

Jamie Nussbaumer with his hands on the trophy GEP

‘We completely bossed the game’, says coach Pothas Gareth Le Prevost

CLUTCHING a bottle of champagne, Nic Pothas wore a satisfied grin after watching his Guernsey captain, Jamie Nussbaumer, lift the Inter-Insular Trophy on Saturday evening at Port Soif. The squad will start focusing on their next challenge – the ICC World Cricket League Division Six tournament in Essex next month – when they re-convene today, but the national coach was not about to subdue his players’ celebrations after they had beaten the old enemy for the first time since 2011. ‘When we win, we enjoy it,’ he said. ‘The result is obviously the gold – on days like this, it is the key thing. As a management team, this is a thankyou for the support we have had over three years, for the understanding of people of what we were building and what it was leading to. Thanks also to all the people who doubted us because it motivated us.’

For seven of the youthful XI who took to the field for Guernsey on Saturday – with three of them being debutants in James Wilkes-Green, Tom Nightingale and Will Fazakerley – it was a first taste of success in the full inter-insular. Pothas talked with pride of how a group with an average age of 21 approached their task and how it bodes well for the future. ‘From my position as a coach, I am only going to assess how we played the game – and what’s not to like? From beginning to end the game was just completely bossed,’ he said. ‘The most pleasing aspect for me is the maturity shown. These kids are well beyond their years and it suggests that we have a team who are going to be successful for 10 years.’ Pothas was particularly impressed with how they set about chasing down a total which he felt was more akin to 200 on a wicket and outfield made slower by the recent rain, with batsmen taking the right options and looking to take the game deep in a composed fashion. He added that the decision to bowl first would have been taken whether there had been a threat of afternoon rain or not. ‘One of the things I set out to instil in this group is that the best teams in the world are good chasing teams. ‘Scoreboard pressure is one of the biggest differentiators of teams and if you can bat second well, you are going to be successful for a long period of time.’

Pothas also revealed that one particular aspect of the build-up boosted his confidence that his side would come out on top. ‘When you look at this group, one thing that told me that we are in a good place was when it was announced their new guy [Nick Ferraby] would be playing. ‘It was not even an issue for the players. I never heard one person talk about that – they did not care because they now play off-island against people they don’t know every week and have to react to what they are facing. ‘We have taught them now to play the ball and not the person. , Neil Macrae, Pothas’ opposite number, was disappointed ‘but it’s something we need to put behind us as we have had a very successful summer’, he said. ‘The wicket and the ground conditions suited Guernsey’s style of play and we just didn’t manage to adapt to the surface well and put enough runs on the board. The players fought extremely well in the field and took the game deep, into the last couple of overs, but 150 was a well below par score – it was the batting that cost us. ‘I have to give credit to Guernsey though and Matt Stokes was prepared to battle – he was deservedly man of the match.